Capping-machine.



G. KIRKEGAARD.

CAPPING MACHINE.

APPLIOATIONYFILED MAY 6, 190a.

Patented May 25, 1909.

5 vwe M06 ,1 11 (liken/M13 I 4 I wi/bweo-aao I wd/ UNITED. STATESrAT-ENT orrin.

GEORG KIliKEGAARD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO IMPERIAL STOPPERCOMPANY,

A CORPORATION 011 MAINE.

CAPPING-MAGHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnosc KIRKEGAARD, a citizen of the United States,residin at the city of New York, in the borough 0 Brooklyn and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCapping-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to bottle capping machines of that class whichare adapted to apply a stopper to a bottle, comprising a metal caphaving a depending flange adapted to makin locking engagement with theexterior of 5m neck. of the bottle and containing a packingdisk which isheld undercompression against the mouth of the bottle by such lockingengagement. In machines of thischaracter, especially those which aredriven by power, the stroke of the plunger and head which applies thecap to the bottle is usually of uniform length and, if the bottlehappens to be of abnormal length, as often occurs, unusual pressure is,exerted upon the bottleby the machine, which results in breakage andloss.

It is the ob ect of my invention to provide a machine which, whileaffording the necessary pressure to compress the packing disk and applythe cap, will automatically compensate for any unusual length in thebottle and prevent the breakage and loss referred to.

The invention consists in supporting the a table upon which the bottle,While undergoing the capping operation, is supported, upon a springhaving a tension suificlent to resist the pressure of the machine whenacting upon a bottle of normal size.

The invention further consists in providing asupport or abutment forsaid spring which is adapted to yield or retreat under certainconditions, but which is normally held by a latch or equivalent means Incapping a bottle of unusual length the latch is tripped and the supportis allowed to retreat or recede, thus; rinitting 'the bottle to movewith the-stro e of the capping machine and relieve-itselfof the'iunduepressure which it would otherwise be subjected to. The invention Willbedescribed in detail with reference'to the accompanying draws in in whichigure 1 is a verticalrsection of the ma chine with parts in elevation.Fi 2 is a horizontal sect on on line w-w 0 Fig. 1,

looking downward, and Fig. 3 is a plan of a plate which supports thetable.

, Referring to the drawingby reference numerals, 1 indicates the baseframe and 2 a hollow standard supported thereon. 3 is a continuouslyrunning pulley through which power is transmitted tothe mach1ne,.and- 4.isa treadle by which the movmg pulley s coupled to the-shaft 5 for eachoperation.- of the machine. which is adapted to impart a stroke downwardand upward to a rod 7 extending; up through the hollow standard 2. Thisrod carries a capping head at its upper-end: 8 adapted to move insuitable guides 9 and having propermechanism at 10 for engag: ing thecap on the bottle and looking it 1111.- der compression thereon. The pan11, is merely a receptacle for stoppers. These features do not form anypart of thepresent' invention.

Against the front of the standard is bolted a plate 12 carrying avertical cylinder 13,,the,

lower end of which is closed, except for a threaded perforation whichaccommodates an adjusting screw 14 having a locking nut The shaft 5carries a lfinko 15. The upper end'of the cylinder is open,

but serves as a guide for a table. 16 having,

on its upper surface a cushion of rubber or other suitable material 17upon which; the

bottle rests while being acted upon. by the machine. The table is ofsuilicient length to be held steadily in the cy xi'dcr, audit isprovided on its under side ith an; annular inclined surface 18 and witha central cylindrical projection 19.

The screw 14 sustains a horizontal disk, or support 20 which may beadjusted vertically and locked at any point of adjustment by means ofthe screw and its lockin nut. This disk is provided with a centraupwardly projecting pin 21 and with three notchc$ 22 equally spacedaround its periphery. Above the disk 20 is another disk 23 havlng acentral opening which enables it to be passed" over the pin 21, and itis yieldingly sustained some distance above disk 20 by a sprin 24. Thisdisk. is likewise notched around? its peri hery', and flanking eachnotch are. u war ly-extending cars 25 inthe upper on s of which are thepivot pins, 26of three levers 27. These levers extend" downward and uward from their pivots, their lower en '5 notches 22, and their upper encarryingrollers 28 which bear against the inclined annular surface 18 ofthe table 16. The lower end of each lever is provided with a sprin 29which bears against the wall of the cylin er 13 so as to move the leverinward when free to do so. The disk 23 serves as a support for a secondspring 30 considerably heavier and stronger than the spring 24. Thisspring surroundsthe upper end of pin 21 and the rejection 19 of thetable, the table being held in its normal position or elevation by thisspring. Above the table at a. proper elevation is a bracket carrying a e31 which facilitates positioning the ttle upon the table. The variousparts are shown in their normalrelation, wherein it will be seenthat'the supporting disk '23 is positively sustained at a fixed distanceabove the main supporting disk 20 bythe levers 27, and the sprlng 21 isunder no special compression 'due' to the weight of the parts above it.The spring 30 is constructed to be of just sufiicient power to sustainthe bottle at approximately a constant level, yielding only when anextraordinany downward pressure is applied to the t e-ordinary operationof table, so that, in ca lplnga bottle, the bottle is laced on the ta ein the position shown in ig. 1, and the treadle 4 is actuated. The headmoves downward and exerts considerable pressure m a downward directionagainst the top of the bottle to com ress the packing disk in the ca andthen lick the cap upon the bottle.- f the bottle is of normal length,the spring 30 willsustain the table, allowing it to {l'ower onlyslightly and not enough to .,,ca1ise the rollers 28 to travel on theinclined "ann ilar surface 18 got the table. When, however, a bottle isencountered which is longei rthan usual, which is often the casebecf'auseof the crude way in which such bott l es'arenrade the stroke ofthe cappin head remaining the same as before, the ta 1e 16 must yield*sufliciently to compensate for the extra: length of bottle, orotherwise the bot-" tle will be broken. Therefore, the spring 30 isconstructedto yield slightly when this abnormal' pres'sure upon thetable is exerted,- and,' W.hen,-the table travels downward," its therollers 28 and; forces them inward, thus throwing outward" the. lowe,r,ends-of levers 27 into the notches inclined surface 18 strikes .sition,v carrying 22 of disk 20. This releases-the supporting and *anotherreplaced without any disturb ance of the operation; On the returnstroke,

the spring 24lifts the disk 23 to its normal position, the levers-27being carried with it until their lower ends clear thetop of the disk20, when their springs 29 force, them inward to'rest upon the top ofdisk '20. Spring 30. meanwhile resumes its normal pothe table to itsproper normal working level. I

It will be seen that the levers act as latches to sustain the abutmentdisk 23 at its proper working level, and, when they aretripped, theabutment is released and.a second and weaker spring is substituted to suort the table. The sprin "are originzfily constructed to be of t e rightpower todo the work, but, any weakening or strengthening of them whichmay be required is accomplished by the adjusting screw 14.

What I claim is:

1. In a bottle capping machine, a depressible table, a spring forresistin depression of the table, an abutment for sai spring, means forpositively and rigidly locking said abutme'nt against depresslon, andmeansactuated by more than a predetermined depression of said table forreleasing the locking means for said abutment and permitting the latterto retreat. v i 1 2. In a bottle capping machine, a depressibletable, asprin for resisting the depression of said tab e, an abutment for saidspring, a latch for positively and rigidly locking said abutment againstdepression,

and means actuated by more than a predetermined depression of said tablefor release ing'said' late In witness whereof, I subscribe my ture, inthe presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses: WALDO M. CHAPINf. JAMES D ANTONIO...

GEORG

